


Caged Birds

by Luminary_Oleander (SephyAthredon)



Series: SephyAthredon Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Beating, Blood, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Platonic Bed Sharing, Prompt number 9, Scared Erik, Self Sacrifice, Take me instead, Whumptober 2020, attempted breakout, broken legs, caring Sylv, group beating, helplessly watching, wound care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27287854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SephyAthredon/pseuds/Luminary_Oleander
Summary: Sylvando and Erik have both been captured by bandits and when they attempts to break out, things go terribly wrong. An Entry for Whumptober under the prompt "Take me instead".
Relationships: Camus | Erik & Sylvia | Sylvando (Dragon Quest XI), Camus | Erik/Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI), Dave & Sylvando, Graig | Hendrik/Sylvia | Sylvando (Dragon Quest XI)
Series: SephyAthredon Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992352
Kudos: 11





	Caged Birds

**Author's Note:**

> The ship for this one is mostly Luminerik but it focuses mainly on Sylvando and Erik. The Luminary’s name is Oleander. Also, I really hope I did a cockney accent right because there's a lot of it in this fic.

Erik opened his eyes, immediately on edge since he didn’t recognize his surroundings, but he did notice that he was behind bars. He couldn’t really recall what had put him in such a situation to begin with. He must have hit his head hard. He froze, searching his memories, trying to remember what Oleander looked like first. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized he could recall it easily, along with all the other faces of his teammates.

Good, he hadn’t lost his memory again.

He took a few moments to look around and soon spotted Sylvando passed out on the ground as well. Good, he wasn’t alone. 

“Sylv.” He whispered, glancing to the entrance into the cell before looking back at Sylvando, “Sylv, wake up, we gotta bust outta here.”

The man stirred, getting up into a sitting position, “Erik dear, what happened? Why are we both locked up here?”

“I dunno, but we shouldn’t stay here for much longer. I-” Erik’s next sentence was interrupted by the mumbling of voices nearby, he froze for only a moment before laying on the floor and turning his back to the bars. It took only a moment for Sylvando to do the same.”

His quick thinking paid off because the voices kept talking even as they came close to the cell.

“Hey, Wot ya reckon we’re gonna do wit’ this lot?” Erik recognized those accents anywhere. They’ve definitely been captured by bandits.

“They’re the luminary’s companion, If he ‘ears that they’re in distress, ‘eel come runnin’. Then biff, bang, bosh! We knock him upside the ‘ead. I know a few monsters who’d pay a pretty penny for ‘im”

That was all Erik was able to get as they passed by, but it was enough. Once he was sure it was safe, he jumped up.

“Did you hear that? They’re going to lure Oleander here, using us as the bait. No doubt he’s out there looking for us right now. We have to get out as quickly as we can.”

Sylvando nods, “Honey, I couldn’t agree with you more. You’re the expert on these situations. Lead the way.”

Erik nodded and started examining the walls and floor for places to dig. They were both stone. He moved to the bars, testing their strength, and then examined the lock.

“Alright, this looks like a pretty easy lock to get through. All I need is something long and thin.” 

“Oh, Dear, I have just what you’re looking for” From his outfit he produced a small hair pin. It was simple and black so it blended in with his hair, “They may have disarmed us, but they didn’t get this. I always keep it on me in case my hair gets a bit unruly and won’t say out of my eyes.”

Erik smiled, taking the pin from Sylv, “That’s perfect, thank you Sylvando”

“No thanks needed, just get us out of here.”

“Will do” He was already setting to work on the lock. There were a few close calls where he had to stop fiddling with the locks and pretend like he wasn’t doing anything as a horned, yellow masked bandit walked by. Eventually though, he did get the door open.

He checked a moment to see if the coast was clear before heading out and gesturing for Sylv to follow.

They managed to make through the hideout in good shape, hiding from any of the bandits they spotted along the way.

They soon reached a dilemma, however. They found themselves on a piece of wooden scaffolding overlooking a room. Below were several bandits around a long table, pigging out on all sorts of food.

The thing that stood between them and the other side of the room were three crude wooden chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

“You’re the acrobatic sort, Sylv. You go first…” Erik said, his words accompanied by a gesture.

He nodded, making it all the way to the second chandelier where he stayed, just hanging there. He turned around to face Erik.

“Come on, I’ll catch you if you fall.”

“Okay…” Erik was clearly psyching himself up for this, “You can do this, you may not be as acrobatic as Sylv, but you can make these jumps…”

Erik made the first jump easily.

“Splendid darling, now follow me.” Sylv made sure to keep his voice down, so as not to alert the others below. He turned himself around and easily made the next jump, going to face Erik again, “Try swinging back and forth before you jump. It’ll make it easier.”

Erik nodded, doing as Sylvando said, but even with the extra help, he barely missed the next chandelier and was sent plummeting to the ground.

Sylvando gasped, hesitating for only a second before jumping after him. The two of them crashed right in the middle of the table that the bandits had been dining on.

Once the dust cleared, the enemies gathered around the two of them, “Well well, look ‘oo we have ‘ere.” This bandit was much bigger than the others and clad in red instead of yellow, “Looks like we ‘ave a few runaways, shall we teach them a lesson, boys?” 

Cheers erupted from around the two as Sylvando and Erik were pulled away from the table.

“Ouchie, let go of me!” Sylv struggled in their grasp, but was powerless to stop them.

“Hey! Get your hands off!” Erik did the same.

They were shoved roughly to the ground and the red bandit loomed over them.

“Alright, lets start with ‘im, first.” He grabbed Erik by the arm, “ ‘e looks like the thiefin’ type, the breakout musta been ‘is idea.”

A semicircle had gathered around them, bandits eager to watch their boss beat someone up, maybe even itching to join in.

Erik gave his attacker a look of defiance, “Do your worst.”

“Oh don’t worry love, I certainly will” The red clad bandit threw Erik hard against the wall, a cry erupted from him as he slumped to the ground. A sharp pain erupted in his legs. He’d hit them hard against the wall. Still, he looked at the man with defiance in his eyes.

“I’m ‘bout to wipe tha’ look righ’ offa yer face.” He replied, coming in with a punch. Erik flinched away in response, putting his arms up to shield himself.

The cry that came in response to the punch was not Erik’s. He had been tossed aside. When he looked back to see who it was that had taken the hit for him, he saw Sylvando. The bandit leader had him pinned between the wall and his fist. His mouth was open and some blood dribbled down his chin. It was clear that the punch had broken something.

“Sylv.” Erik tried to get to his feet and rush to his companion’s aid, but that one hit affected him more than he thought. He was unable to get up. Instead, he reached a hand out to the other. “Sylv… S-Sylv…”

The entertainer spoke, but not to Erik, instead, he looked at the Bandit leader and spoke.

“T-Take me instead. If you must hurt somebody, hurt me. I won’t resist.” The voice he spoke these sentences with was shaky, but his expression was the same defiance that Erik had shown.

“Ah, an ‘onerable character, aintcha? ‘Right then, I accept yer request.” He grabbed Sylv by the collar of his shirt and tossed him in Erik’s direction. He skidded right past the other. Cries of pain were all that could be heard from him.

“Sylv! No!” Erik tried to grab him as we went past, but he was nowhere close, “Sylv! Don’t do this! You can’t do this!” He succeeded in latching onto the leader as he walked across the room to Sylv. In response, he got his arm stepped on, forcing him to let go with a groan.

“You.” The leader pointed to a random bandit, “restrain ‘im. I wan’ ‘im ta see what I’m ‘bout to do to ‘is companion.” 

“Yessir” That bandit nodded and moved to Erik, picking him up and restraining the man in his hold, all while he was struggling and crying Sylvando’s name.

The leader picked Sylv up by his hair, looking him up and down, “Now that I fink ‘bout it…” he muttered to himself, pausing a moment before kicking him into the crowd, “‘ave at ‘im boys! A man as small and skinny as this is bound to break easily!”

Erik just watched in horror as the bandits descended on Sylvando. There were easily fifteen of them in total in the whole room and, while it wasn’t a very big group, each individual packed a punch of their own. By the time they slowed down, Sylvando’s face was an unrecognizable mess. He could barely breathe and there was so much blood. Tears trailed down his face as well. Erik didn’t doubt that many of his bones were broken.

The only thing that interrupted the group was when one of the doors opened. Inside came another bandit. The whole hall paused to look at him. The only thing that could be heard were Erik’s desperate shouts and Sylvando’s cries of pain. 

“I-I’m sorry, Am I interruptin’ somefink. I got a little lost on the way ‘here.” He said, scratching the back of his head. He was wearing the usual yellow mask and bandit clothes, but this man seemed different to Erik, “You guys clobberin’ someone? Can I ‘elp?”

The Bandit leader was clearly annoyed by the interruption, “Too late, you went an’ ruined it. Make up for it by taking this one back to his cell.” The bandits moved back to reveal the broken form of Sylvando on the floor.

Erik caught sight of the new bandit trembling a little when he noticed the other’s form, something which he quickly tried to hide by going stiff.

“Whatever ya say, Boss!” He saluted and approached Sylvando, kneeling and picking him up with a gentleness Erik didn’t think these bandits could show, “Cor, ya really did a number on ‘im,” The new bandit’s voice wavered a bit at the beginning but was quickly brought under control.

“He deserves it, we caught both of them sneaking out. Now they know not to try it again.” The red bandit turned to the one that was restraining Erik, “Follow him, I want you to return this man to his cell as well.

He nodded, not even noticing that Erik wasn’t putting up as much of a struggle as he had been too focused on watching this new bandit. The two of them left the dining hall together.

As soon as they entered the jail area, the bandit that was carrying Sylvando stopped for a moment.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Asked the one carrying Erik. He didn’t get a response, but instead, he was shoulder-tackled to the ground. The bandit put Sylvando down gently and then finished the job. Erik crawled immediately to Sylvando’s side when he was freed.

“This isn’t good.” Suddenly, he was aware of a shadow looming over the both of them. He gathered Sylvando in his arms, ready to protect the broken figure. When he looked back, he saw that the posture of the bandit was one of sorrow. Tears leaked through the holes in his mask.

“Sylv… Sylv…” The bulky figure called out the man’s name in a sorrowful voice.

Erik had his suspicions, but he didn’t move from his protective stance.

“D-Dave….” Sylvando spoke, though it was in a ghost of a voice, hardly even there. He reached out a hand toward the other.

“Yes, It’s me, Sylv. I promised meself, tha’ I’d never put ta yellow mask back on. I did… for you, Sylv. So please don’ leave me.” Dave grabbed the slender hand that had reached out toward him, looking from Sylvando to Erik, “We’ve got to get ‘im out of ‘ere”

Erik nodded, “You don’t need to tell me twice. You’ve got him then?” He released his grip on the other, allowing for Dave to pick him up gently again, which he did. 

“Aye, I do, lead the way.”

“I can’t…” Erik admitted, “He… he hurt my legs bad. I can’t stand…”

“Tha’s a problem… Come on, then, I’ll carry you on my back.”

——————————————————————————————————————————-

It was slow going, but they were making good progress through the hideout. Erik didn’t like having to rely entirely on Dave to get them out, but the circumstances demanded it. It didn’t take him long to realize there were other people in the caves. Dave told him that he had been put up to the task by the Luminary and his friends. He was just the initial scout, put in charge of securing Erik and Sylvando if he had the chance.

After that, Oleander had planned to charge in with his group, that was what all the commotion was about. Mostly, it was a distraction so that Dave could get out.

The first person they bumped into was Hendrik, who had made his way the farthest into the hideout. He ran to Sylvando’s side as soon as he laid eyes on the man.

“What happened to him?” His tone was angry, his voice demanding. 

“We failed an escape and the Bandits wanted to teach us a lesson. Sylvando sacrificed himself for me.” Erik replied from over Dave’s shoulder.

“That…” He sighed, his anger quickly dissipating, “That sounds like something he would do. Let me see him, I know some first aid that might help.” 

Gently, Dave transferred Sylv into Hendrik’s arms and the man laid him down with an equal amount of gentleness, bandaging his wounds.

“Dave, go get Erik to safety while I’m busy with this,” Hendrik glanced up at the man for only a moment before turning back to Sylv.

“I ain’t leavin’ him.” Dave’s stance was firm, punctuated by a stomp of his foot.

“I’m not either. I’ll be fine. I’m not as hurt as he is, just my legs.” Erik replied.

“You sure, Oleander’s really worried about you?” Hendrik asked. He was so focused on the task at hand that he didn’t even look up. Every pained groan or cry that left Sylvando’s throat tugged on the heartstrings of all present.

“Yes… I really want to see him, but I want to know that Sylv’s safe first.” He missed Oleander so much.

“Very well then” 

Hendrik managed to stop the bleeding from Sylv’s many wounds, and soon he was gathering the other into his arms. 

“Alright, let’s get out of here. Follow me.” Hendrik led the way.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

Soon enough, they came to the entrance of the bandit hideout. Oleander was standing at the mouth of the cave, a worried look on his face, but it quickly vanished once he saw the others, being replaced by a smile, and then a sad expression once he caught sight of Sylv.

As much as Oleander wanted to be with Erik, Sylvando was the one that was clearly the most injured.

“What happened?” He echoed Hendrik’s earlier question.

I’ll explain later, Hendrik replied, “For now, these two need rest’

“Okay then… Dave, can I carry Erik?” Oleander looked up at him.

“Sure fing, ‘ere ya go” Gently, he removed the man from his shoulder and placed him in Oleander’s arms.

“H-Hey…” Instinctively, Erik got comfortable in Oleander’s arms, “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too… I thought you were a goner”

“Would I ever scare you like that?”

“You already have” The sentence was quickly followed by a laugh from Oleander.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

The walk to the Salty Stallion was far from quiet, with Oleander and Erik making small talk and Dave telling stories to Hendrik about his adventures with Sylvando. Soon enough, though, they boarded the ship and Dave took his place at the helm. Normally he would drive the ship at night, and Sylvando would take the helm during the day while he slept, but Dave didn’t think Sylv would mind.

Erik and Sylv were put in their respective rooms with Oleander and Hendrik deciding to watch over them. Serena often came and left Sylv’s room, busy healing his wounds a little at a time.

“So, I suppose I owe you an explanation, huh?” Erik’s eyes met with Oleander’s, “Oli… what happened down there wasn’t pretty… We tried to escape but we were caught and beaten for our attempt, only… after the first blow to me, which broke my legs, Sylvando took the second… for me. Then he told the leader of the bandits to hurt him instead. I just… don’t understand why he would do that.”

“Sylvando cares deeply for all of us, I think” Oleander replied, tearing up slightly, “He just didn’t want you to get hurt. He would have done the same for me.”

“Yes, but you’re the Luminary, I’m just some petty thief.”

“Not in Sylvando’s eyes.”

Erik looked away from Oleander, “I’m glad that Dave came when he did, or else… Sylv would be dead. It was a smart idea to disguise him like that.”

“It was mine, I’m glad it helped.” Oleander gave him a small smile.

Erik nodded, “Thanks to that… Sylv will be making out of this in one piece, and thanks to him, the only thing I’ll be suffering from is boredom while I wait for my legs to heal.”

Oleander laughed, “Yeah, I’m grateful for that…”

——————————————————————————————————————————-

It took a full day for Sylvando to regain consciousness, but once he did, Oleander brought Erik to the captain’s quarters, laying him gently in the bed next to Sylv.

“D-Darling… you’re okay…” Sylv reached out a shaking hand toward Erik, which he captured in one of his.

“Thanks to you, I am.”

“I am glad… so glad…” There was a smile on his face, contrasting with the scars littering his whole body. Before this incident, Sylvando didn’t have a single scar on him, at least not that Erik could tell, so it made his blood boil a little to think that he’d have to live with the scars long after the incident had faded from memory.

“Sylv… I don’t understand why you would sacrifice yourself for me.”

“Oh honey, the answer to that one is simple. I care about you. Besides, you would have done the same for me.”

Erik realized with startling clarity that he would, in fact, take a hit for Sylvando. The whole time he was watching the Bandits beat the man up, he wished he could take the other’s place, to protect him somehow. 

“You’re exactly right. I’d sacrifice myself for anyone in our group, especially Oleander.”

“Oh, honey, I knew that. It’s because you love him” 

Erik only answered that with a nod.

At that moment Dave burst through the door, grabbing Sylvando and scooping him into a hug, “Sylv! Sylv! I ‘eard you were up and feelin’ better! I’m so ‘appy that yer gonna pull through!”

Erik could see that even in the firm hug, there was a gentleness, Dave clearly respecting the fact that his friend hasn’t fully healed.

“Yes Dave, It is good to see you too! I missed you so much, my friend” He tried his best to give the other a hug back, “Though, if memory serves, you did help with my rescue didn’t you?”

“Aye, I did! Even put on the yellow attire an everythin’. I’d say I made for quite a fearsome bandit.”

“I have to disagree.” Erik replied in a joking manner, “I could tell it was you from a mile away.”

“Oh really? Den how come you were tryin’ ta protect Sylv from me?”

That sentence caught Erik by surprise, “I- I just wanted to keep him safe in case my guess turned out to be wrong.”

“Oh, honey! You tried to protect me?” Sylv looked to Erik, a smile still on his face, “I appreciate the sentiment.” he laid back down on the bed and Dave pulled up a stool to sit by his bedside.

“W-well… you would have done the same, wouldn’t you?” Erik asked.

“I most certainly would have!” Sylvando exclaimed in response.

Before the little group that Oleander led had been formed, it had been just him and Erik, before that, Erik had nobody but Dirk, and even then he was an old friend. Now, as he looked at Sylvando’s face, complete with a beaming smile, he couldn’t help but be thankful for all the friends he had, the ones that really really cared about him, enough that they’d risk their lives for him.

For the countless number of times since he’d been a part of this group, Erik felt loved. Not just by Oleander, who he loved more than the stars themselves, but by everyone else he had chosen to share this adventure with.


End file.
